Death Eaters
Death Eaters (possibly known in their earliest years as the Knights of Walpurgis) were followers of Lord Voldemort. They often wore black hoods with snake-like eye slits to cover their faces. Every Death Eater had a Dark Mark burned into his or her left forearm. When Voldemort touched one of them, every Death Eater felt it, allowing them to apparate to their leader's side. Ideology Ideologically, the Death Eaters sought to destroy wizards of Muggle lineage, and gain complete power and control over the entire wizarding world as well as restore the magical community to pure-bloods. The Death Eaters idealized pure-blood wizards who have no Muggle ancestors, which is ironic, as their leader, Lord Voldemort, was a half-blood with a Muggle father. Not all of them could claim to be pure-bloods, and in fact true pure-bloods probably did not exist, as the claim is based on selective genealogy; possibly many of them were half-bloods clinging to their pure-blood ancestors. One such was Severus Snape. A half-blood, Snape called himself "The Half Blood Prince" while a student at Hogwarts school, a reference to his mother's wizarding family, the Princes. Ironically, their leader and founder, Lord Voldemort was also a half-blood, who, judging by Bellatrix's reaction to the fact, lied to his followers about being pure-blood. The Death Eaters also attacked purebloods who oppose them, such as the Prewett brothers, who were Purebloods, but members of the Order of the Phoenix. It is thought that their main targets were muggle-borns. It is assumed that as Voldemort was trying to find ways to conquer death, Death Eaters sought similar goals, hoping that by following the Dark Lord, he would share his found secrets with them. History Origins and the First war By 1970, the Death Eaters were an organization formed from people Tom Riddle, now Lord Voldemort knew from his time at Hogwarts, as well as their relations. Nearly all of those recruited were from Slytherin House as students. Actively recruiting an army of dark wizards and creatures, with the belief that his hidden horcruxes granted him immortality, Voldemort and the Death Eaters planned to overthrow the Ministry of Magic and rule their way. Death Eater activity during the First War consisted of attacks on wizards, witches, and large numbers of Muggles. These were initiated by the Death Eaters often, but not always, on the orders of Voldemort. When the Ministry did not suffer an ostensible collapse in the eleven years of Voldemort's reign, the Death Eaters attacked prominent wizard families. As a result, fear gripped the wider wizard community. Severus Snape reported to Lord Voldemort the part of the prophecy he had heard while listening in on a conversation between Albus Dumbledore and Sybill Trelawney which predicted that either Harry Potter, the son of Order of the Phoenix members James and Lily Potter, or Neville Longbottom, son of Alice and Frank Longbottom would be the one to destroy Voldemort. Voldemort went to the Potters personally, seeing them as a greater danger to him. Despite being under the protection of the Fidelius Charm, Voldemort was able to get into their home because James entrusted his old friend Peter Pettigrew as Secret-Keeper, and Pettigrew subsequently betrayed the secret to Voldemort. Snape failed to overhear the entire prophecy, including the announcement that Voldemort himself would mark his own equal. Although Voldemort killed James and, despite Snape's pleas that she be spared, Lily, the killing curse rebounded off Harry and hit Voldemort, destroying his living body. However, due to his extensive performance of Dark Magic, Voldemort's soul survived and escaped. Bellatrix Lestrange tortured the Longbottoms into insanity but did not (to the best of our knowledge) attack Neville. Lucius Malfoy was, at the time, a prominent Death Eater who led many attacks on Muggles. Between The First and Second Wars With the disappearance of their leader, the Death Eaters largely fell into chaos. The Ministry arrested and imprisoned many Death Eaters in Azkaban, though some eluded justice by claiming the Imperius Curse had been used on them, like Lucius Malfoy, or by turning in other Death Eaters, as Igor Karkaroff did. Most followers hid their allegiance to Voldemort and therefore did not try to find Voldemort. thumb|200px|right|A masked Death Eater. Outbreaks of Death Eater activity did occur, although rarely, during the thirteen years of Voldemort's absence. Perhaps the most notable event being the riots at the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup, during which a group of Death Eaters attacked the camp of Wizards and Witches, as well as attacking a nearby Muggle family. The Second Wizarding War In June of 1995, Lord Voldemort finally returned to a physical body through a dark potion created by Peter Pettigrew. The body was human-shaped, though hairless and with many serpentine features. Moments after Lord Voldemort finally regained his body, he summoned his followers to him by touching Peter Pettigrew's Dark Mark. Some proved too afraid to return to him, such as Igor Karkaroff, while others who were dead or imprisoned remained absent. Severus Snape did not return on the guise that he had to appear more loyal to Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix; Snape returned two hours later. Despite several absences, there were several who returned the call, including Lucius Malfoy, and Crabbe and Goyle, who had sons at Hogwarts. Harry Potter was present for Voldemort's return to power, and even dueled against Lord Voldemort and defeated him in a spectacular display of Priori Incantatem, revealing that the cores of Voldemort's and Harry's wands were related. Harry managed to escape and tell Headmaster Dumbledore of Voldemort's return. The Minister for Magic (Cornelius Fudge) and most of the Ministry of Magic originally refused to believe that Lord Voldemort returned. Though Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore served as dissenting voices, the majority of the public chose to believe in the Ministry, as well as its wider propaganda and smear campaign against Potter and Dumbledore. Armed with this advantage, the Death Eaters keep a low profile in order to maintain their standing in the wizarding world. Due in part to the Ministry's refusal to remove the Dementors from Azkaban Fortress, a proposition Dumbledore supported immediately following Voldemort's return, the Death Eaters informally recruited the Dementors to the cause. Similar progress was made with giants. The quiet revolt of the Dementors fostered a mass breakout of imprisoned Death Eaters from Azkaban In late spring of 1996 Voldemort sent a group of twelve Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy, into the Department of Mysteries where he expected them to secure for him a record from the Hall of Prophecy. The Prophecy was of vital importance to the Dark Lord. Having originally attacked Harry Potter based upon a partial recounting of it, Voldemort now desired to hear the full version in order to understand entirely the nature of the connection between himself and Potter. The raid on the Department of Mysteries failed when Harry Potter and his friends from Dumbledore's Army delayed the Death Eaters, kept the Prophecy out of their hands, and finally destroyed it amid the battle that ensueds between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. Eleven of the twelve Death Eaters are captured, and Voldemort dueled with Dumbledore, losing. Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange to fled, but not before Cornelius Fudge witnessed the returned Dark Lord. The raid was a failure for the Death Eaters because their reactivation is no longer a secret and several members were deported to Azkaban, and the return of Voldemort was proved to the skeptical Ministry. Revealed at last to the wizard community, the Death Eaters proceeded to resume their earlier lifestyle and behavior. Kidnapping, torturing, and assasinations of wizards, witches, and Muggles began anew as the Second War starts. The Final Year Plottings and Tactics Voldemort began to understand more about his failures in killing Harry Potter, and with his Death Eaters, planned several courses of action. One was the overthrowing of the Ministry of Magic. Another was capturing Harry Potter and killing him. While Voldemort went on his own personal quests and stayed out of sight of the wizarding community's eye, he worked through others, including Yaxley at the Ministry, and Severus Snape and the Carrows at Hogwarts. The meeting place for the Death Eaters was the Malfoy Manor. At this place, the Death Eaters would make reports and the Dark Lord would give them orders. On one occasion, Voldemort took reports on goings on at the Ministry of Magic by Yaxley, though was more impressed with reports by Snape regarding the Order of the Phoenix's plans to move Harry Potter. Voldemort also ridiculed Bellatrix Lestrange, Narcissa Malfoy, and Draco Malfoy for the marriage of Remus Lupin, a known werewolf, to Nymphadora Tonks, a relative of theirs. At this meeting, Charity Burbage, a professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, was murdered by Voldemort and then fed to Nagini. Voldemort also took Lucius Malfoy's wand to fight against Harry Potter, believing his own to be inferior to Harry's. Attempt on Harry Potter Still opposed by the Order of the Phoenix, who knew it wasn't safe to trust the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort knew through Snape that Harry Potter would be moved from the house of his aunt and uncle a few days before his seventeenth birthday, which is when spells protecting him would have broken. The exact details of this move were unknown to the Death Eaters at large, though Snape manipulated Mundungus Fletcher with magic and knew the plans, only telling the Dark Lord enough to display loyalty. As a congregation of members of the Order of the Phoenix including Alastor Moody, Arthur Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Rubeus Hagrid, Bill Weasley, Fleur Delacour, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, along with Harry Potter himself, left the home of the Dursleys, the Death Eaters attacked immediately. They could not tell right away which pair included the real Harry Potter, because six of the congregation had used Polyjuice Potion. It was assumed that Harry would be with the strongest members, so Moody and Shacklebolt were attacked most fervently at first. During the ensuing battle, Snape used Sectumsempra to attack the Death Eater in front of him, but missed and slashed the ear off George Weasley. Bellatrix Lestrange tried very hard to kill Tonks, but she did not succeed in while Tonks herself injured Rodolphus Lestrange. Alastor Moody was killed by Voldemort himself. When Harry Potter used Expelliarmus, which they had come to consider Potter's trademark spell, against Stan Shunpike, who was under the Imperius Curse, they knew the real Harry to be with Hagrid. Voldemort himself was present, flying without the aid of a broomstick, and led the charge against Harry. Despite their attempts to capture the boy, they were thwarted by Harry's spellwork, Hagrid's selfless courage, and finally, when Harry crossed into a protective spell over the home of Ted Tonks. Lucius' wand was snapped by a spell cast by Harry's wand, infuriating Voldemort even more. The Fall of the Ministry During the wedding of Fleur Delacour to Bill Weasley, the Ministry of Magic was overthrown and Rufus Scrimgeour was killed, and Pius Thicknesse was installed in his place, though controlled by the Imperius Curse. Under the control of the Death Eaters, such acts as the Muggleborn Registration Act were put in place, a reward was set for Harry Potter, marking him as Undesirable Number One, and a taboo was put in place for audibly saying the word "Voldemort." Headmaster Snape Severus Snape was hired as Headmaster of Hogwarts for what would have been Harry Potter's seventh year at Hogwarts. There, he faced fierce opposition from Minerva McGonagall and other professors, as well as the remaining members of Dumbledore's Army, including Neville Longbottom and Ginevra Weasley. The Carrows were also there at the school, with Amycus Carrow teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, though in reality he taught the Dark Arts. His sister, Alecto Carrow, took over Muggle Studies, though the course became a brainwashing of the superiority of wizard kind over muggles. The Elder Wand Though Voldemort didn't place a lot value in the tale of the Deathly Hallows, he was obsessed with finding a wand that would defeat Harry Potter's, and believed his own would not do it. At the advice of Ollivander, Voldemort used a different wand against Harry Potter (Lucius'), but that, too, failed, to the surprise of Voldemort and Ollivander. Voldemort decided to go on a quest to find the powerful wand of legend, the Elder Wand. First, he sought and found Gregorovitch, who he killed when it was found out he no longer had the wand. He then sought and found Gellert Grindelwald, who, like Gregorovich, gave the Dark Lord very little useful information. Voldemort then, remembering that Albus Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald decades before, decided to travel to Hogwarts, unearth the body of the deceased Headmaster, and take the wand from it. That mission, he assumed, was completed, and he now believed that he had the wand that would win any duel. Potter Escapes the Malfoy Manor During Harry Potter's time hidden from the Death Eaters, he accidentally said Voldemort's name and was captured by Fenrir Greyback and taken, with Ron and Hermione to the manor of Lucius Malfoy, now a disgraced Death Eater. Present at the manor at the time were Narcissa and Bellatrix Lestrange, and Draco, home for vacation. Despite Draco's inability to adequately identify Harry Potter, Voldemort was summoned. Bellatrix proceded to torture Hermione with the Cruciatus Curse while Dobby the house elf came and rescued Harry, Ron, Ollivander, and Luna Lovegood from the basement. As the house elf rescued Hermione, with the help of Ron and Harry, Dobby caused the chandelier to crash down, Hermione took Bellatrix's wand, and Harry took Draco's wand. In a final act, Dobby apparated with the others, but was stabbed by Bellatrix in the process, causing his death. As punishment for summoning him without successfully holding Potter, Voldemort punished all present and forbade them to leave the manor. Destruction of Voldemort's Horcruxes Unknown to Voldemort or his Death Eaters (except Severus Snape who was secretly betraying the Dark Lord), Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, was out seeking the horcruxes of Voldemort. Regulus Black had already removed Salazar Slytherin's Locket from its hiding place, though had been unable to destroy it. Albus Dumbledore destroyed Gaunt's Ring with Godric Gryffindor's sword. Thanks to Severus Snape's help through his doe patronus, Ron Weasley was able to find the sword of Gryffindor and destroy the locket horcrux. Harry Potter concluded from Bellatrix's behavior at the Malfoy manor that a horcrux was in her safe at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. With the help of Griphook, Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the bank and took Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, escaping on a dragon. Though the three companions were successful, Voldemort learned from hearing about Harry's venture into the bank that they were seeking his horcruxes. In panic, he went to the places the horcruxes were hidden, leaving Hogwarts last, but in the process revealing to Harry Potter that Hogwarts was indeed the last place to go. The Battle of Hogwarts Voldemort, along with his Death Eaters and other allies, attacked the school and those defending it. This battle marked the death of Voldemort and the end of the Death Eaters. After the battle was lost by the Death Eaters, many were arrested, while others went into hiding. Known Death Eaters Trivia * Despite his allegiance with Lord Voldemort, Fenrir Greyback was not a Death Eater due to the fact that he was a werewolf. * Narcissa Malfoy was not a Death Eater even though she was married to Lucius Malfoy and the sister of Bellatrix Lestrange, and even though her house was used as the meeting place for Voldemort and the Death Eaters after Voldemort's return. * Professor Quirrel was loyal to Lord Voldemort but he was not a Death Eater. * Several Death Eaters with the same last name have been mentioned in the series (i.e. Lestrange, Avery, Mulciber), which suggests that fealty to Voldemort may not end with the person themselves, and extends to their children. It is equally possible, however, that the children have similar ideological views to their parents. * fr:Mangemort